KGF and Kantara producer Vijay Kiragandur shares his SECRET for success “We select only good scripts, that too, after doing a lot of research and surveys. The research could relate to genres which people want to watch, the kind of stories they want to see on screen, the kind of sequences which are liked by them”

By Fenil Seta -

January 4, 2023 - 12:30 PM IST

The Karnataka-based Hombale Films weaved its magic in 2022 as both its films – KGF - Chapter 2 and Kantara – proved to be huge blockbusters, in Kannada as well as in the dubbed Hindi versions. Its founder Vijay Kiragandur recently gave an interview to Komal Nahta’s Film Information magazine whereby he shared the secrets of his success and the unique strategies he undertook for his films.

KGF and Kantara producer Vijay Kiragandur shares his SECRET for success “We select only good scripts, that too, after doing a lot of research and surveys. The research could relate to genres which people want to watch, the kind of stories they want to see on screen, the kind of sequences which are liked by them”

To begin with, Vijay Kiragandur revealed that they give the maximum importance to scripts. Their in-house team keeps on polishing the script till the head honchos are satisfied. For this, script narration sessions are held weekly. Only when the script is locked do they hunt for an able director. To quote Vijay Kiragandur, “What is the sense in having a great story if we don’t have the right person to execute the writer’s thoughts and get that story to the canvas? For a good film, it is very necessary that both, the writer and the director, should be good and talented.”

The Hombale Films team then begins the casting process. Here, Vijay reminded, “We neither fix the shooting dates before our script is cent percent ready nor do we finalize our hero or other cast members till the script is final. We’ve never done that.”

Vijay Kiragandur made it clear that no actor, no matter how big a star he or she is, is not allowed to make changes to the script. “Suggestions about minor things are welcome but we don’t encourage alterations,” maintained Vijay.

Vijay Kiragandur then reveals that they also spend a lot on research and surveys and it's done at different stages of production. In fact, it’s also considered while selecting the script. Vijay said, “We select only good scripts, that too, after doing a lot of research and surveys. The research could relate to genres which people want to watch, kind of stories they want to see on screen, the kind of sequences which are liked by them.”

Vijay then confessed that they had asked people through a survey whether they wanted to watch KGF - Chapter 2 in cinemas or should they release it directly on OTT due to lockdown restrictions. A whopping 97% of those surveyed said that they want to watch the film in cinemas. This helped Hombale Films management to hold the release of the film. And the rest is history as KGF - Chapter 2 collected more than Rs. 1000 crores at the box office worldwide.

And that’s not all. Vijay Kiragandur and his team also studied the viewership of KGF - Chapter 2’s trailer on YouTube. He revealed, “We finalized the number of cinemas in different areas based on this data. We also increased our promotion in areas where viewership of the trailer was low.”

Also Read: EXCLUSIVE: “We had shown KGF – Chapter 1 to SS Rajamouli sir. Yash can’t do any smaller movies in future” – Vijay Kiragandur on clash with Shah Rukh Khan’s Zero and teaser release date of Prabhas’ Salaar